So sometimes it must be nice for the Duchess of Cambridge to be the one behind the camera – as these pictures prove.

Kate took the photographs in September, when she and Prince William visited Borneo, and they were published on the couple’s website, www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org, yesterday.

Kate and William spent a day at the Danum Valley Research Station to highlight the work being undertaken to protect the rainforest and its wildlife, including the orang-utan.

A keen amateur: The Duchess of Cambridge taking aim on a previous trip

The Borneo rainforest is one of the oldest rainforests in the world and the Duke and Duchess visited it during their Diamond Jubilee tour to South East Asia and the South Pacific

The pictures capture the couple's
awesome surroundings in the jungle and include photographs taken on their
private walks through the Borneo forest as well as images captured while
the Duke and Duchess were flying to the Solomon Islands.

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The couple travelled into the jungle
to the research station in the Malaysian state of Sabah where they were
hoisted more than 40 metres up into the rainforest canopy to see the
eco-system.

They also saw orangutans during their time on the island and Kate captured one of the endangered species in silhouette.

The
trip to Borneo took place at a testing time for the couple, in the
midst of the publication of pictures of the Duchess sunbathing topless
on holiday in France.

The Duke and Duchess flew over this palm oil plantation on their way to the research station. These plantations are vital to the production of many products used in daily life, from cooking to biofuels

The Borneo rainforest provides natural habitats for many species of birds and animals. Most notably the endangered Borneo Orangutan. The Duke and Duchess were fortunate enough to spot one during their short visit

The Duchess of Cambridge, who is a keen photographer, took the shots on her own camera during the visit

Mount Kinabalu is the highest point in Borneo, this image was taken by Kate as the couple flew to the Solomon Islands

The website was recently redesigned and it relaunched on Novermber 3rd to coincide with the their Royal Highness’s Diamond Jubilee tour to Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.

The site is designed to bring
together information from three individual websites,
www.princeofwales.gov.uk, www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org and
www.princehenryofwales.org and features a 'Life in Pictures' section with many rarely seen archive photos, a children's section and even YouTube clips.

More features focusing on the many
different elements of Their Royal Highness’s work and lives such as Royal Gardens,
Sustainability, The Duchy of Cornwall, Literacy and The Royal Foundation
of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

The site was recently redesigned as a way to bring together information on the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and features a rarely seen archive photos, a children's section and even YouTube clips

This picture was taken as Kate and Wiliam were travelling by car through the rain forest in Danum Valley in Malaysia and does not even begin to give a sense of the size of these jungle giants, which are truly one of Nature's most awesome sights

They follow the release yesterday of never-before-seen photographs of Prince William in his role as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

There were red faces at the palace
though as the publicity exercise back-fired as it emerged that sensitive
information was visible in four of the shots.

The Ministry of Defence was yesterday
forced to reset the user names and computer passwords of dozens of RAF
staff following the embarrassing security blunder.

The
pictures, taken by an RAF photographer, had been intended to show off a
‘day in the life’ of the prince on base as Flight Lieutenant Wales at
RAF Valley on Anglesey, north Wales.

This photo of a jungle clearing was taken by The Duchess during her and The Duke's private walk. In rare clearings, when the sunlight does shine though, it creates the most spectacular effect through the architectural structures of the trees and leaves

This photograph was also taken on a private jungle walk. Every tree is itself a kingdom of creatures and plant life with a surrounding atmosphere of light and noise and humidity

Creative Kate, who has a degree in the history of art, is a keen supporter of the arts as reflected in her first Patronages and volunteer activities since becoming Duchess of Cambridge.

It is understood her photos were taken on a Canon G12, which retails for about £285.

In January she became patron of the National Portrait Gallery and her first official solo engagement without husband William was at a Lucian Freud preview at the gallery in February this year.

She has also become a patron of the Art Room, a charity that works with children to increase their self-esteem, self-confidence and independence through art.

The charity’s emphasis is on teaching life skills while encouraging children and young people to both relate and engage with each other.

BUT ARE THEY ANY GOOD? FLEET STREET SNAPPER HARRY PAGE SAYS NO

Harry Page has worked as a Fleet Street staff photographer on two national titles for over 30 years. In that time he has travelled the world covering major news stories, royal tours & celebrity events.

He says: ‘It’s a good first effort and full marks to her for putting them out there and inviting critique, that is very brave as an amateur, but technically they are not brilliant.

‘It looks like the pictures have all been take in colour and then turned to black and white, meaning they lose a lot of impact.

‘She was in a lush rainforest in a beautiful part of the world which would have been filled with amazing colours and shades so to lose all of that is a real shame.

‘Black and white pictures can be more interesting but here it adds nothing to the picture.

‘My least favourite shot is the one of the orangutan – I thought Rod Hull’s Emu had curled up and died on film.

‘But some of the jungle shots are good, and she definitely shows potential.

‘My advice to her is to get some proper lessons from a professional photographer.

‘She is in such a privileged position and will spend the rest of her life travelling around the world with unique access to the most amazing sites, a few professional pointers would enable her to make the most of her potential.'

The trip to Borneo took place at a testing time for the couple, days earlier a French magazine had published pictures of the Duchess sunbathing topless on holiday in France. Kate, though remained cool and calm as she was pictured at the Assyakirin Mosque in Kuala Lumpur before heading in to the jungle

The royal couple were hoisted up a 42 metre rainforest tree during their visit (this picture is not part of Kate's photography collection)

VIDEO: Inspired? Kate & William looked relaxed and happy on their trip to Borneo